Saudi Citizens Funding Iraq Insurgents
Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash.
Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.
But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report released Wednesday said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.
Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.
Some Saudis appear to know the money is headed to Iraq's insurgents, but others merely give it to clerics who channel it to anti-coalition forces, the officials said.
In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million (euro18.8 million) in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The missiles were purchased from someone in Romania, apparently through the black market, he said.
Overall, the Iraqi officials said, money has been pouring into Iraq from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a Sunni bastion, since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled the Sunni-controlled regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of financial support for the insurgents.
"There isn't any organized terror finance, and we will not permit any such unorganized acts," said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. About a year ago the Saudi government set up a unit to track any "suspicious financial operations," he said.
But the Iraq Study Group said "funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states."
Saudi officials say they cracked down on zakat abuses, under pressure from the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The Iraqi officials, however, said some funding goes to Iraq's Sunni Arab political leadership, who then disburse it. Other money, they said, is funneled directly to insurgents. The distribution network includes Iraqi truck and bus drivers.
Several drivers interviewed by the AP in Middle East capitals said Saudis have been using religious events, like the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a smaller pilgrimage, as cover for illicit money transfers. Some money, they said, is carried into Iraq on buses with returning pilgrims.
"They sent boxes full of dollars and asked me to deliver them to certain addresses in Iraq," said one driver, who gave his name only as Hussein, out of fear of reprisal. "I know it is being sent to the resistance, and if I don't take it with me, they will kill me."
He was told what was in the boxes, he said, to ensure he hid the money from authorities at the border.
The two Iraqi officials would not name specific Iraqi Sunnis who have received money from Saudi Arabia. But Iraq issued an arrest warrant for Harith al-Dhari, a Sunni opponent of the Iraqi government, shortly after he visited Saudi Arabia in October. He was accused of sectarian incitement.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Saudi government officials deny that any money from their country is being sent to Iraqis fighting the government and the U.S.-led coalition.
But the U.S. Iraq Study Group report released Wednesday said Saudis are a source of funding for Sunni Arab insurgents. Several truck drivers interviewed by The Associated Press described carrying boxes of cash from Saudi Arabia into Iraq, money they said was headed for insurgents.
Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Saudi money comes from private donations, called zaqat, collected for Islamic causes and charities.
Some Saudis appear to know the money is headed to Iraq's insurgents, but others merely give it to clerics who channel it to anti-coalition forces, the officials said.
In one recent case, an Iraqi official said $25 million (euro18.8 million) in Saudi money went to a top Iraqi Sunni cleric and was used to buy weapons, including Strela, a Russian shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The missiles were purchased from someone in Romania, apparently through the black market, he said.
Overall, the Iraqi officials said, money has been pouring into Iraq from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a Sunni bastion, since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq toppled the Sunni-controlled regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Saudi officials vehemently deny their country is a major source of financial support for the insurgents.
"There isn't any organized terror finance, and we will not permit any such unorganized acts," said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry. About a year ago the Saudi government set up a unit to track any "suspicious financial operations," he said.
But the Iraq Study Group said "funding for the Sunni insurgency comes from private individuals within Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states."
Saudi officials say they cracked down on zakat abuses, under pressure from the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
The Iraqi officials, however, said some funding goes to Iraq's Sunni Arab political leadership, who then disburse it. Other money, they said, is funneled directly to insurgents. The distribution network includes Iraqi truck and bus drivers.
Several drivers interviewed by the AP in Middle East capitals said Saudis have been using religious events, like the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and a smaller pilgrimage, as cover for illicit money transfers. Some money, they said, is carried into Iraq on buses with returning pilgrims.
"They sent boxes full of dollars and asked me to deliver them to certain addresses in Iraq," said one driver, who gave his name only as Hussein, out of fear of reprisal. "I know it is being sent to the resistance, and if I don't take it with me, they will kill me."
He was told what was in the boxes, he said, to ensure he hid the money from authorities at the border.
The two Iraqi officials would not name specific Iraqi Sunnis who have received money from Saudi Arabia. But Iraq issued an arrest warrant for Harith al-Dhari, a Sunni opponent of the Iraqi government, shortly after he visited Saudi Arabia in October. He was accused of sectarian incitement.
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This post was really interesting, patriotic9. Love and Hate for the sake of Allah, fooling infidels to kill them for Allah. Man we're screwed.
In another article somewhere on the internet it's said: ''Two high-ranking Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, told the AP most of the Israeli money comes from private donations, called tzedaka, collected for Judaic causes and charities.
Both SHIAs and SUNNIs have different way of operating war business which are evident from the way they are fighting in IRAQ.
Sunni Islam (specially WAHABISM)is based on a concept called AL WALA WAL BARA FILLAH(Love for the sake of ALLAH and HATRED for the SAKE of ALLAH).They are taught to hate all the UNBELIEVERS to please their ALLAH.The SHIA also belive in that same concept but their LOVE and HATRED is under covered in a concept called TUQIYYAH which means telling lie and fooling INFIDELS to harm them and kill them is the best action to please their GOD ALLAH.That's why SUNNIs started killing US troops from very begining of this conflict while SHIA showed a beautiful face in the begining till they acheived their goal of forming a RELIGIOUS EXTREMIST ISLAMIC STATE RUN under the commands of those IRANIAN AYATOLLAHs who consider us the GREATEST SATAN by our tax money on the name of REBUIDING IRAQ.If they were not united,Saudi king Abdullah who is the ruler of the most extremsit SUNNI WAHHABI COUNTRY would not invite MUQTADA AL SADR as a ROYAL GUEST in SAUDI ARABIA.Our myopic leaders were supposed to learn all these things before invading Iraq.I am worried,it might be too late for us now.But we need to do anything we can to fight ISLAMIC RADICALISM which is so powerful by the BUSH'S policies.
You are absolutely right.If we wanted to support Isael,we were supposed to do that in a smart way.We didn't do that.This is 21st century.Thousands of years old religious propheices can't help us winning this war in 21st century.Whenever we had made any decision solely on the basis of religion without using common sense at all,we had suffered a lot but never like Iraq invasion.
Saddam was a SECULAR DICTATOR who had killed his own people because they wanted to establish an EXTREMIST ISLAMIC STATE.ISLAMIC RADICALS didn't have to spend a single penny to remove SADDAM from power.Saddam was removed from power by our TAX DOLLARS and our great SOLDIER'S LIVES and those EXTREMIST SHIA RADICALS are given power who are taking our TAX MONEY on the name of REBUILDING IRAQ to establish an ISLAMIC EMPIREfrom IRAN in the EAST to LEBANON in the WEST to fulif the demand of 2nd coming of their FINAL IMAM anmed IMAM MEHDI about who they believe is gonna kill all the NON MUSLIMS.The killing of CHRISTAIN LEADER in LEBANON is the part of that game.The people who have been benifited from this war are ISLAMIC RADICALS,ARAB OIL BUISNESSES(specially SAUDIs)and the OIL COMPANIES in our country who doesn't care about anything more then their presonal financial interests.
Because of the NON-SENSE POLICIES of BUSH,we'll have to see that day.We can't control that at all period.Why should we as AMERICANS get involved in JEWISH ARAB CONFLICT and how it helps us or hurt us.How it hurts us we know that by every day casualties of our soldiers in IRAQ and thousands of deaths of our citizens in WORLD TRADE CENTER.
If jews are GOD-CHOSEN,then the GOD should be the one to protect them not the AMERICANS on the COST OF AMERICAN MONEY, AMERICAN LIVES and USA HERSELF.
All the policies based on RELIGION have been failed.The latest example is the IRAQ INVASION which was to help the second coming of CHRIST but ended up in making ISLAMIC RADICALISM so powerful like it was never before.
Nobody has paid the price of RACISM and INJUSTICE more then us as AMERICANS.We were attacked on 9/11 because of our tax money going to those EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE who have occupied the land of those who give us OIL in cheaper prices.We may get attacked by the same group by NUCLEAR BOMBS in the near future.Why should we care who is a jew,who is a christian,who is a hindu and so on.That's not the part of our constitution.Please tell me what was the justification of bringing EUROPEANS into Palestine when Palestinians had nothing to do with the crimes comited by HITLER.Don't give me a reason from a RELIGIOUS TEXT as my CONSTITUTION separates CHURCH from STATE.